The present invention relates to methods of, and a mounting device for, supporting communication cables, for example, telecommunication, or CATV, wire or fiber optic cables, in their runs along wall siding thereon, and particularly to a mounting device capable of simultaneously supporting runs of a wide range of cable sizes as well as accommodating the removal of a cable or the addition of a new cable, and of being used to secure cable which runs either vertically or horizontally along the wall.
Cables have been supported along walls having overlapping siding using a mounting xe2x80x9cclipxe2x80x9d which has an anchor portion that slides vertically under the bottom edge of the overlapping boards of the siding. Such mounting clips have utilized an anchor portion which slides vertically under the bottom edge of the siding boards. Cable have also been tied to structures by using commercially available plastic self locking ties, the cable being encircled by the tie which loops through a device for holding the cable. Commercial plastic ties are available with a plastic belt length with a self locking one way xe2x80x9cbucklexe2x80x9d on one end through which the other end may be threaded to pull the tie tightly around the cable and lock itself against releasing.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a siding clip for use in tying a communication cable to a wall with overlapping siding boards, the clip being such that it will accommodate the supporting of a wide range of cable sizes and multiple cables as well as being capable of supporting either horizontal or vertical runs, and accommodating the addition or removal of cables being supported by the clip.
The present invention provides a clip, preferably made of a rigid plastic, which comprises a strap, or tie, portion having multiple slots for receiving ties for supporting cable runs along the side of a building wall, the wall having clapboard siding, or other similarly overlapping siding. In accordance with the invention, a vertical clip, having a vertical rear back portion extending the vertical length of the clip, comprises a relatively thin top portion for wedging the clip under the overlap of a siding board or the like, and a bottom portion which extends over the overlapped siding below the bottom edge of the overlapping board. The bottom portion of the clip comprises a support portion for a tie portion having at least one tie opening for receiving a tie for tying a vertical cable run to the clip and at least a second opening for similarly tying a horizontal cable run. In the preferred embodiment the tie portion of the clip has slot openings and is displaced outwardly from the siding to provide ready access thereto when tying a cable to the clip. Preferably the openings through the tie support portion of the clip for the vertical and horizontal cable runs lie along lines perpendicular to each other, with the tie portion being in a plane parallel to the general plane of the wall, with the planes for the tie portion and the wall being displaced from each other to provide easy access to the openings for the ties. In the preferred embodiment, the tie support portion is preferably an integral part of the clip (including both the top and bottom portions) and is preferably of rectangular shape with opposed top and bottom edges and two opposed vertical sides generally perpendicular to the top and bottom sides, there being a tie opening for a horizontal run of cable along the bottom side and at a tie opening along at least one vertical side, and preferably along both vertical sides, for tying vertical cable runs.
The clip of the invention may be used to accommodate the use of a single tie opening to support two cables by using a single tie for each or using a single tie to encircle the both cables. Thus, a cable slot which already has a cable tied through it, may be used to tie another cable by severing the first tie, cutting it if necessary, and using a new tie of appropriate length to feed through the slot opening and encircle both of the cables to secure both to the clip.